I owned and operated a property management division at my brokerage for over 20 years (with the assistance of my wife Janie :-).

We sold that “book of business” over 12 years ago and continue to get a check every month…got the most recent one yesterday

Managing a property is like managing a business. To do it right you must have a plan, and you must execute your plan. Each property you manage, each new tenant you meet will teach you more about the business of property management.

Remember that you will never know “all there is to know” about property management. Like everything in real estate, there is always more to learn. The more you read and study, the better off you will be. Landlord tenant law and contract law varies from state to state. A good source of information on the subject will be your local Apartment Association and your local Association of Realtors. This is where you earn your keep as an investor. It can make you or break you.

According to MBA Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni, “led by a 5.4 percent decline in the South, the drop in existing-home sales in September was likely somewhat related to the impact from Hurricane Florence. Beyond that, housing demand still remains strong, and is bolstered by an incredibly healthy job market. The lack of overall supply, at only 4.4 months at the current sales pace, continues to be the housing market’s primary constraint.”

Buildings are part of the culture of our REALTOR Organizations, which is only right, since we are all about the real estate 🙂

Brunswick – Glynn County Board of REALTORS (GA)

The last time I was at this Board of REALTORS was in April of 2004.

Notice too that some of our local REALTOR organizations refer to themselves as “Boards.” Many changed to “Associations” over the last 30 years or so, but I often still refer to my local association as “the Board.”

“I use an estimate based on my own reality. I take all of last year’s “Buyer Agent” fees actually received, deducting expenses directly related to that sale. An example would be if you paid for a home warranty or gave them a closing gift. Add up the total “net” commission and divide by the number of

Buyer Agent Transactions. Do the same on the listing side deducting that house’s specific expenses. Example would be sign up/sign down fees, advertising costs, not the lockox as that is an overhead/inventory item.

Only deduct the specific cost of advertising this house, not personal promotion advertising or other houses grouped into the ad. Take the total net commission and divide by the number of listings.

I do my plan based on half of my transactions/sides being Buyer Agent and the other half being Listings Sold. YMMV I round down the final number to account for buyers who don’t buy and listings that don’t sell. If my buyer agent $ is $4,450 I count that as $4,000 for planning. If the listing side is $3,450, I count that as $3,000 for planning.

Then I take the total number of sides from last year and up it to wherever I want it to be next year. Say that is 40 total transactions. 20 X $3,000 plus 20 X $4,000 equals my annual goal.

Then I do the plan, strategy, action list to meet the goals, etc into two separate plans. One, for achieving the listing goals; and then a second for achieving the buyer agent goals. They overlap a bit where I count on meeting buyers from my listings.

General overhead like buying enough lockboxes to keep a stocked inventory, I do not count at all when doing my business plan as eventually that becomes a constant. If you are a newer agent, these things are one time “start up”

costs.

I have taken some classes lately on planning, but the “new ideas” didn’t fit my business model. This one still works for me.”

Since the average term of homeownership can be somewhere between 5 to 8 years, realize that everyday is a marketing day and the easiest people to reach (and those most inclined to listen to your message) are those you already know.

Go through your personal address book. Call, mail, or e-mail everyone in your personal address book to let them know that you are now in the real estate business and that you would love to hear their advice and of course, if they know anyone who is interested in buying or selling, that you would appreciate if they mention your name. Don’t be shy about this. Don’t feel like you can’t “impose” on your friends. If your friends won’t help you, who will? Ask if it is ok for you to give them an update on your progress after your first year.

Learn the art and science of sales. There have been many good books written on the subject.

Understand persuasion and how it fits into your business.

Think of yourself as a “helper” (no one wants to be “sold” something). After all, you are helping people with what is usually their most valuable asset, their home.

To be effective in sales, you need the following:

Product Knowledge

Sales and Communication Skills

Access to Potential Clients

Integrity

Perseverance and Commitment

And let’s not forget….

Enough money (capital) to get you through start up and the lean times.

Pay attention to the future…as someone once told me…”that is where you will spend the rest of your life.”

If you are interested in the true story from someone who was there and part of the conversation and the execution…

The REAL Realtor Dot Com and Rin Story…

From the beginning…before listing appeared on the Internet in any quantity.

It was June of 1995 and there was no REALTOR Dot com and REALTORS were the first industry to place their inventory online for public display. It didn’t happen all by itself…there was an “Advance Team.”

There is a long story behind the makings of REALTOR DOt Com and all of the money, politics, and even some wrong doing. I had a front row seat to the entire affair as the only REALTOR Consultant on the RIN Team.

This is a “Marketing Thoughts” piece I wrote to the RIN Team for placing Listings on The Internet in June of 1995. I called it National Advertising and this was the first document created for NAR on this subject.

I don’t think that Bob Goldberg had yet joined the RIN Team. When he arrived, he was my responsibility to train.

San Francisco, CA – July 17, 2018 –Glide, a provider of real estate software solutions that empowers agents with easy-to-use, secure, and convenient new ways to complete real estate transactions online, today announced a partnership with the Oakland Berkeley Association of REALTORS® that immediately enables Association members to use the company’s popular Glide Forms application. Glide Forms is distributed through a partnership with zipLogix™ and is embedded within the zipForm® Plus transaction management system. Beginning today, agents who are Oakland Berkeley Association of REALTORS® members can access Glide Forms free of charge via zipForm Plus.

When a real estate agent’s client sells their home, the owner is required to accurately complete and submit a number of deal-critical disclosure forms. As agents know, this means that sellers are presented with forms containing complex legal language that often proves confusing and challenging to complete. As a result, these documents are commonly submitted with incomplete or inaccurate information, causing frustration and needless delays in the transaction process.

Glide Forms addresses these legacy issues through its TurboTax-style wizard that home sellers can use to accurately, quickly, and painlessly complete required paperwork – such as the

Transfer Disclosure Statement and other California disclosure forms – through an intuitive all-digital interface. The wizard asks home sellers questions about their properties in plain language, making it clear how to disclose important details through user-friendly, conversational interactions. In addition to eliminating the frustration of often-confusing forms and delays due to missed questions, unreadable handwriting, and other common issues, Glide Forms allows agents to track their clients’ progress and digitally receive the finished forms as soon as they are completed. The purpose-built solution is also optimized for mobile use.

“Our members lives are in constant motion from the moment their feet hit the ground and as their Association it’s important that we continually strive to bring them tools that will help them be more efficient. Glide is a tool that will do just that for our members and with no additional cost. Our members will be able to save time which in turn will benefit their business.” said DaVina Lara, CEO, Oakland Berkeley Association of REALTORS®.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with OBAR to offer Glide Forms free of charge to its more than 2,200 members.” said Sebastian Tonkin, CEO, Glide. “The East Bay is already a complex market for residential transactions, and so we’re excited to simplify this critical step of disclosure preparation for OBAR members.”

About Glide

Glide provides software solutions that helps real estate agents simplify their transaction process, reduce risk, and close more deals with less effort. The company’s first release, Glide Forms, is integrated into zipForm® Plus and allows California home sellers to complete required disclosure forms electronically for the first time ever.

Data needs a voice, and that is why we decided to create this blog. We will be bringing you conversation and resources that we believe are relevant to the Data Conversation playing out in the real estate industry today…so bookmark us and come back often.